Spain vs The Netherlands: Women’s World Cup quarter-final match preview

Spain have the chance to once again do something historic when they take on The Netherlands in Wellington in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Jorge Vilda’s side seem to have finally found their goalscoring touch after thrashing Switzerland 5-1 in the previous game. Until that point, against Costa Rica and Zambia, Spain had played well without pulling up any trees; a 4-0 loss to Japan in the final group stage, however, was a hurricane out of nowhere.

The Netherlands will prove to be a tough test for La Roja and the Oranje could be seen as something of an example to follow when it comes to women’s football in the nation. The country held and won the Euros in 2017 and since then the game has exploded, with a wide array of top class talent flooding into the side: they got to the final of the 2019 World Cup in Canada and lost only to an imperious USWNT side with a prime Rapinoe and co. who had got past Spain in a previous round.

Vilda well aware of The Netherlands’ threats

Spain, historically, have been behind The Netherlands in terms of football development, with Vilda’s team coming into what is only their 3rd World Cup. Recent results between the two sides, however, show how things have changed, with La Roja winning the last two encounters and under Vilda, The Netherlands have not beaten Spain.

Ahead of the tie, Vilda was not keen to get into details on how his side might set up against the opposition: “The game will be decided in the boxes, but it could be a mini game in the middle of the pitch. They dominate the spaces and position. We will also see what happens on the wings.”

Spain have to convince in attack to get through the opposition defence

The manager did, however, mention two players to look our for, saying “we don’t have secrets, nor fear of them revealing anything about ourselves. Martens is doing really well, she is shining in her new position. Van der Gragt is very secure”.

The Netherlands are very secure at the back, having only conceded one goal in the tournament so far, against the USWNT. They have also scored plenty, putting 7 past Vietnam in the group stage as well as 2 against South Africa in the previous round. They are a very direct team when they attack, and are averaging 217 line-breaking passes per game at the tournament so far.

The winner will face either Japan or Sweden. The former did huge damage against Spain in the group stage and look like the most frightening team at the World Cup so far; Sweden, on the other hand, put the sword to the USWNT after a battling 120 minutes on the field.